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The Knights' ever-changing halves pairings mean they must defy the odds to make the NRL finals, with no combination lasting more than four straight games.

Newcastle must defy 15 seasons of history if they are to overcome a season of unsettled halves pairings and win through to make the NRL finals.

The Knights will fight for their season on Sunday against Gold Coast, needing a win to keep alive a realistic hope of finishing in the top eight.

They will do so with Jack Cogger and Phoenix Crossland in the halves for a second straight week, in perhaps Newcastle's most unlikely pairing of this year.

A never-ending rotation of halves has virtually become the Knights' calling card this season.

Coach Adam O'Brien has changed that pairing eight times, with six separate combinations used.

Penrith also find themselves in a similar predicament this year, but unlike Newcastle, the Panthers' first-choice halves pairing has never been in doubt.

The Knights have failed to keep the same pairing together for more than four straight weeks.

Since 2010, a staggering 111 of the 112 teams to reach finals have used the same halves pairing for more than four games straight in the regular season.

The one exception is Melbourne in 2020, who still had Cameron Munster and Jahrome Hughes together 13 times in the shortened 20-round season.

O'Brien is hopeful he now has "the luxury of some stability", but this week stopped short of suggesting Crossland and Cogger were his long-term pairing.

"All I can do is base it on the weekend's performance, and if we're talking about the spine then I was quite content with what they brought for us," O'Brien said.

"We will have a look at how they perform this weekend. 

"Performance will dictate what the make up of the team will be, but I am pretty confident in those guys."

St George Illawarra's dramatic 44-40 loss to Parramatta looms as a boost to Newcastle's finals hopes, with 30 points now set to be enough to finish the season in eighth spot on the ladder.

The Knights will reach 30 with two wins across the final fortnight, but need to boost their for-and-against or hope other results fall their way.

Newcastle are this year's worst attacking team, scoring an average 19 points per game.

The other factor in that issue has been Kalyn Ponga's injury-interrupted season, after he missed two-and-a-half months with a foot injury.

O'Brien declared following last week's win over South Sydney that his fullback was starting to get "a look about him" again. 

Ponga has scored only one try this year and set up seven, but was the Knights' best in the victory over the Rabbitohs.

Regardless, Newcastle desperately need last year's Dally M medallist to find his spark again in the final rounds against Gold Coast and the Dolphins.

"I've been better each week since the injury," Ponga said. 

"It was unfortunate I missed that 10-week block, been working on things trying to do the best I can. But I think I'm heading in the right direction."

NEWCASTLE'S EVER-ROTATING HALVES PAIRINGS:

* Tyson Gamble-Jackson Hastings (two games)

* Tyson Gamble-Jack Cogger (two games)

* Jack Cogger-Jackson Hastings (two games)

* Tyson Gamble-Jackson Hastings (four games)

* Jack Cogger-Jackson Hastings (four games)

* Will Pryce-Jackson Hastings (three games)

* Tyson Gamble-Jackson Hastings (one game)

* Tyson Gamble-Phoenix Crossland (three games)

* Jack Cogger-Phoenix Crossland (one game).